In a continuing effort to improve the quality of shipping fruits, I, the inventor, typically hybridize a large number of peach, nectarine, plum, apricot, and cherry seedlings each year. The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of peach tree, which has been denominated varietally as ‘Neptune I’. The present variety was hybridized by me in 1999, grown as a seedling on its own root in my greenhouse, and transplanted to a cultivated area of my experimental orchard at Bradford Farms near Le Grand, Calif. in Merced County (San Joaquin Valley).
The variety was developed as a first generation cross using ‘Red Glen’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,193) yellow flesh nectarine as the selected seed parent and an unnamed peach (unpatented) as the selected pollen parent. A single tree from the stated cross was selected as the claimed variety. Subsequent to origination of the present variety of peach tree, I asexually reproduced it by budding and grafting in the experimental orchard described above, and such reproduction of plant and fruit characteristics were true to the original plant in all respects. The reproduction of the variety included the use of ‘Nemaguard’ (unpatented) rootstock upon which the present variety was compatible and true to type.
The present variety is very distinguished from its selected seed parent, ‘Red Glen’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,193) nectarine, by producing fruit that is peach instead of nectarine, oblate instead of globose in shape, white instead of yellow in flesh color, sub-acidic instead of acidic in flavor, and freestone instead of clingstone.
The present variety is most similar to ‘Saturn’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,123) peach by producing fruit that is white in flesh color, very oblate in shape, and freestone in type, but is distinguished therefrom and an improvement thereon by having a much lower chilling requirement and by producing fruit that has a higher percentage of red color, firmer in texture, and ripens about 10 days later in the Central Valley of California.